Rhodonite's friends
by October heart
Summary: When Rhodonite goes on a tour of the boardwalk with Steven she discovers an interesting shop, and some new friends!


Beach City was a lovely little town on the shore. It was quite small and had a very small population. It was around the same level as puppies and children on the list of dangerous things. That is, of course, if you don't count all of the aliens and monsters that tend to make appearances there. However the aliens and monsters were familiar to one new inhabitant of the town, the people and noises of everyday life, on the other hand, were not.

Rhodonite was doing what she usually did. She was hiding in the house just out of town that had been built for the Off Colours. She was hiding because this planet was so full of stuff like animals and plants and people and machines that confused and scared her. Rhodonite did often go outside, but that was with Steven or captain Lars. She did plan to go outside that day, Steven was going to show her around the town and would be at her house any minute.

"Hi Rhodonite"! exclaimed Steven.

"Ahh... oh it's you Steven, I thought you were a gem shattering monster for a second there" Rhodonite said, flustered.

"Nope! just me"stated Steven with a giggle. "Are you ready to explore the town"?

"I... I think so, Padparadscha said she had to go through there when she went to visit your 'Dad'. It sounded scary, Are you sure it's safe"? Said Rhodonite.

"I'm sure, come on I'll show you"! Said Steven enthusiastically.

He did in fact show her the town. He showed her The Big Donut, he showed her the fry shop and the pizza store and Funland (although they didn't go on any rides because Steven didn't want her to get scared). Steven answered all her questions about town, nearly all of which contained some form of inquiry about danger, she was reassured this was all safe (except for Funland, Steven simply shrugged when asked if that was safe). The two friends were walking along the street when she spotted a store that Steven hadn't showed her yet.

"What's in that store Steven"? she inquired.

"Hmm... oh! that's the pet store. You can buy pets, which are like little animal friends that you look after there". replied Steven.

" little animal friends? Oh, kind of like Pumpkin except an animal"! Rhodonite exclaimed.

" yeah, just like that" said Steven, happy she understood.

Rhodonite liked Pumpkin, even if it always scared her by running at her when she visited Peridot. She decided to go in (after Steven of course) and she was amazed by all the pet stuff and even more amazed by all the animals. She reached out with one of her four arms and touched a little bell on a dog collar, squeaking in fear when it made a loud noise. Steven soon went off further into the store to look at the fish, leaving Rhodonite wondering what to look at next. Out of nowhere a little brown creature wandered around a corner and towards her! It had a little harness on with a helium balloon attached, probably so people didn't accidentally step on it. The creature made a shrill noise that made Rhodonite yelp and jump back in fear.

"Oh, sorry! did Marie Curie startle you? Don't worry, she's very friendly. That noise she made means she wants food" said the human woman that walked out of the back room when the animal made the noise.

"Oh, thank stars! I was scared it might eat me! What is Marie Curie anyways"? inquired Rhodonite.

"She's a guinea pig! Hmm... you're one of those magical ladies that sometimes come around town right? Anyways, my name is Lizzie!"

"Oh... hi Lizzie, I'm Rhodonite" Rhodonite said shyly.

"Pleasure to meet you Rhodonite! Do you want to feed Marie"? asked Lizzie as the guinea pig looked up, excited.

"Umm, sure" said Rhodonite, all the while eying Marie with two of her eyes.

"Sweet! It was about time to feed her anyways. Got to make sure she stays healthy so when she has her babies they are too"! enthusiastically chimed Lizzie.

"Babies"? Rhodonite wondered out loud.

"Yup, new little tiny guinea pigs! we have to sell them to good homes because we can't keep them all, we can only have two shop guinea pigs which means we can only keep one" Lizzie said a little sadly as she handed Rhodonite a carrot to give to Marie. Rhodonite fed the guinea pig her snack with one extended arm and her fingertips as far away from the little animal's mouth as possible. Marie ate her carrot quickly and then waddled up to Rhodonite and lied down up against her leg. Rhodonite stiffened but soon relaxed and slowly reached out to touch the furry little animal. Marie purred and squeaked but made no protest to this. Lizzie laughed.

"She likes you" Lizzie stated, Rhodonite's eyes all lit up and she smiled.

"Rhodonite! We need to go, we're late. I said I would bring you back home at four and it's already four fifteen!" Steven said from next to the door.

"Oh stars, I'm coming"! Rhodonite said as she got up and shot a glance at Marie.

"You can come back whenever if the shop is open to visit me and Marie, here are the hours" Lizzie said as she handed Rhodonite a little paper card.

Steven and Rhodonite went back to the Off Colours house. All her friends were excited to hear about how she had made new friends, one human and one guinea pig! Over the course of the next week she brought all her friends to see Marie and meet Lizzie. She brought Padparadscha first, Paddie absolutely loved meeting Rhodonite's lovely friends. Next came the Rutiles, then Fluorite, then Lars and finally Peridot. Everyone loved seeing the new friends, though none as much as Rhodonite herself. One day when she was visiting Marie and Lizzie she was asked a question.

"Since you love guinea pigs so much do you want to buy some of Marie's babies? You would have to get two because they are very social, that's why we are keeping another for the shop" said Lizzie.

"I.. I could get one"? Rhodonite asked.

"Well sure, you just need a nice big cage for them and some food and you would be good as gold" replied Lizzie.

"Umm... I don't have money" said Rhodonite.

"Well, you could probably build a cage, and I would be willing to give you two of the babies when they are old enough. And as for money for food, well I need an employee to help me around the shop and I think you are the right kind of person for the job, that is if you want it" said Lizzie.

"So I could come here and help and get food for my guinea pigs... that sounds awesome"! exclaimed Rhodonite.

And so Rhodonite started her job at the pet store. When she told Steven and the Crystal Gems they seemed quite happy, she even got a thumbs up from Garnet! Steven and his dad Greg helped her build a big cage for the guinea pigs in her room of the Off Colours house. She used her first pay check from the shop to buy a bag of what Lizzie said was the best guinea pig food.

One day when she showed up to work she didn't see Lizzie at the counter. Rhodonite went into the back and found something amazing. It was Lizzie sitting next to Marie's night pen, and inside that pen was Marie and five baby guinea pigs! The next three weeks were exciting, Rhodonite couldn't wait until the two little boy guinea pigs she had chosen were old enough to take home!

The day Rhodonite brought home her pets she was super excited. She walked even more carefully than normal on the way home (which was saying a lot) and she placed her two guinea pigs very carefully in their new home. To keep the naming theme she listened to Steven's friend Connie's suggestions and named them Galileo and Edwin Hubble.

Rhodonite was grateful for many things, for making such good friends, for escaping Homeworld, for making it to Earth safely, and, much less significantly but still important, for going on that tour of the town with Steven.


End file.
